Tessa Boase in conversation at Waterstones Piccadilly

Waterstones Piccadilly, formerly Simpson’s department store, is just one of the buildings featured in London’s Lost Department Stores. Join us at Piccadilly with Tessa Boase as she discusses the sudden endangered species of the department store. Tessa will guide you through a vanished era to celebrate all these fabulous stores, from Baroque Revival Debenham & Freebody in Wigmore Street to Art Deco Derry & Toms in Kensington (later Biba) with its roof garden, and the Moderne lines of Holdrons at Peckham Rye (now Mr Khan's Discount), as well as Gamages' peerless toy department and Swears & Wells' furs. Full of original research and anecdote, illustrated with superb period photographs throughout, this unique book brings to life a vanished era of confidence and style.

Tessa Boase has written extensively for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and other publications, and is in demand for her talks and lectures. Her previous books, both critical and commercial successes, are The Housekeeper’s Tale and Etta Lemon (published in hardback as Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather).